In this case, it was originally thought that it fell into the category of those where the witnesses could only testify as to what others had told them including, in some instances, the victims of the shooting. The deceased's mother, Elizabeth Moloto, testified that on 10 March 1994 at about 14:45 the deceased left his home in Itsoseng to go to Mafikeng. At between 16:30 and 17:00 she received a telephone call from the Victoria Hospital in Mafikeng that her son, an adult, male, aged 24 years, was in hospital. He had been shot. He was later transported from the hospital to Tshepong Hospital in Klerksdorp, where he died on 26 April 1994. He died from sepsis of his wound, which was a gunshot wound in the stomach, and circulatory collapse.

Mrs Moloto said she visited her son while he was in hospital. He told her he had been shot at the Market Square, Mafikeng, by a white man in khaki clothing while he was rendering assistance to a woman who had also been shot. He did not say where the man who shot him was at the time of shooting nor could he give any description of his assailant or identify him in any manner. The deceased made a similar statement to a friend who also visited him in hospital, one Paul Mokwele. The deceased was the chairperson of the African National Congress Youth League in Itsoseng of which Mokwele was a member. The deceased told Mokwele that he had been shot by a white person while assisting a woman who had also been shot. He could give no description of that person whatsoever nor any detail as to where the person was when he fired the shot at him. He could also give no description or any details of the woman

The doctor who performed the post-mortem examination, Dr H Wentzel, testified that a gunshot wound that had penetrated the internal organs and particularly the pancreas, as this one had, could result in septicaemia.This was a common phenomenon in this type of gunshot wound and frequently resulted in the death of the victim. This opinion coincided with that of a Dr le Roux who treated the deceased at the Tshepong Hospital. Dr le Roux testified that unless a gunshot of the type in this case was surgically treated within six hours, septicaemia was usually the result, more open than not with fatal consequences. When the deceased was admitted to Tshepong Hospital on 12 March 1994, he had already had an exploratory laparotomy or surgical examination of the abdomen. He could, however, not say where or when this had taken place. On the next day another laparotomy was performed by a specialist surgeon. Two holes were found in the intestines and one in the duodenum. These were surgically treated. However, despite intensive treatment, sepsis set in and although this was also immediately and intensively treated, it affected other organs such as the kidneys and the deceased's heart and on 26 April 1994 he died. The medical evidence was that no blame could be attached to the hospital or its staff. Everything possible was done to save him but to no avail. The cause of death, said both Dr Wentzel and Dr le Roux, was the gunshot wound in the stomach.

Had the matter rested there, the deceased's assailants would have been unknown. However, it did not. Paul Mokwele had misgivings about the description given to him by the deceased as to where and when he had been shot. Mokwele felt that the deceased had no need, or business, to have been at the Market Square in Mafikeng. He discussed his misgivings with the Investigating Team, in particular with Detective Sergeant Markus Ferreira.

The latter decided to show Mokwele certain videos in the possession of the Investigating Team. One of them depicted scenes of rioters busy looting from shops at Mega City and one scene is that of a looter in a white short-sleeve shirt and light coloured jeans kicking in a shop window prior to looting goods from it. The scenes in Mega City also depict members of the Bophuthatswana Police Force firing at looters inside Mega City. Sergeant Ferreira testified that the weapons they were using were 37 mm "stoppers" which fire rubber bullets and teargas. They are unable to fire ordinary bullets. The video shows teargas being fired from the weapons. Thereafter follows a scene where the same man as was seen kicking in the shop window is seen running outside the Mega City Shopping Complex. He is dressed, as in the earlier scene, in a white short sleeve shirt and light coloured jeans on which an insignia can be seen on the right-hand back pocket. The video shows him bending to pick up a stone. As he does so, he is seen to grab at his stomach and pitch forward on to the ground. His face is visible and can be recognised by somebody who knew him well. The video then shows him being picked up by other persons in the vicinity who carried him to a van into which he was placed. While being so carried his face is clearly visible. Mokwele unhesitantly recognised the person as the deceased Diseko.

Mokwele then testified before the Commission that he recognised Diseko from the video. He knew the deceased extremely well. They had been friends since 1985 and had attended school together. In addition, Diseko's mother had given him the pair of jeans he had been wearing on the day he was shot. Mokwele produced the jeans before the Commission. They were light coloured, matching the colour of those in the video scenes and they bore the insignia of Pierre Cardin clothing on the right back pocket. The Commission has no doubt that Mokwele's recognition of the deceased as John Kgosi Diseko is accurate. Quite apart from the jeans, Diseko's face is recognizable in the video scenes by anybody who knew him well, as Mokwele did. Diseko also was shot in the stomach, as the video depicts. Furthermore, Mokwele would have had no reason or motive to testify to the Commission that the person depicted in the video scenes was the deceased Diseko, other than a desire to wish to be helpful to the Commission. He would have had no reason to want to say that his great friend had been shot at MegaCity, as the video shows, if in fact he had been shot at the Market Square in Mafikeng, as Diseko had told his mother and Mokwele while he was in hospital.

The probabilities would seem to be that he had made up that story in order not to divulge that he had been shot while looting shops at Mega City. Mokwele's identification of Diseko was also confirmed by the latter's brother-in-law, Petrous Mosina. The Investigation Team had a series of four still photographs made from the video by the police forensic laboratory and showed them to Mosina, who, as Diseko's brother-in-law, knew him very well. At least two of the photographs show Diseko's face clearly and Mosina unhesitantly identified him from the photographs. The photographs depict Diseko bending down, then lying on his stomach after having been shot with his face tuned to the camera while the last one shows him being carried to a van. The video scenes and the still photographs do not, however, show who had fired the shot and struck the deceased in the stomach. Nor could any witness be found who could testify to having seen who shot the deceased.

The Commission therefore finds that

These three cases are those of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging members whose deaths at the hands of a Bophuthatswana policeman were seen on TV news services throughout the world.

The policeman concerned, Constable Ontlametse Bernstein Menyatsoe, of the South African Police Services, who in March 1994 was a constable in the Bophuthatswana Police Force, admitted to the Commission that he had shot and killed the three men.

The evidence in regard to their deaths was the following:

As set out in the section of this Report on the background to the events of 11 March 1994 a large contingent of Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging members had entered the Mmabatho/Mafikeng area during the afternoon and night of Thursday, 10 March 1994 and had later joined members of the Afrikaner Volksfront at the Air Force Base at Mmabatho. Members of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging in their vehicles, which were mainly bakkies but of which there were also sedan motor cars, had started leaving the Base at about noon on 11 March 1994 on their way out of the Mrnabatho/Mafikeng area and then out of Bophuthatswana. As also set out in the section on the background, instead of leaving via the route around Mmabatho as they had been instructed and had undertaken to do, the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging members drove through the Mmabatho/Mafikeng area on their way out of it.

Their route took them along the Vryburg-Mafikeng road, between the residential villages adjacent to it, past the TTA and over the railway bridge at the entrance to Mafikeng. The story of what happened to the three deceased who were in a blue Mercedes-Benz motor car as part of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging group leaving the area is told in the evidence of Lance-Corporal Andy de Koker and Lieutenant Jafta Dikobe of the former Bophuthatswana Defence Force, Sergeant Phaladi Benjamin Mokgoko of the former Bophuthatswana Police Force and in the statement of Constable Menyatsoe.

Lance-Corporal De Koker testified that on 11 March 1994 he was part of a section of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force which was doing patrol duties in a Mamba under Lieutenant Dikobe. At about noon they were told over the radio of a congregating of a large crowd of people at TTA.They were instructed to block off the road so as to prevent the people from entering Mafikeng. Lieutenant Dikobe tried unsuccessfully to get the people to disperse. Sporadic firing could be heard. Lance-Corporal De Koker said they then saw a convoy of eight to ten civilian vehicles consisting of bakkies, combis and motor cars with their headlights on moving towards them. On the vehicles were Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging members wearing their insignia. Some of the crowd of people started throwing stones at the convoy but they were too far away to do any damage to the vehicles although some of the stones hit the vehicles. The convoy continued moving forward with the intention of crossing the bridge. As they did so the men on the vehicles opened fire on the crowd.

Lance-Corporal De Koker said he was armed and began firing back at the convoy whose members were shooting at him and his companions although they were in uniform. Several of the crowd were hit. One man was shot in the thigh and Lance-Corporal De Koker and two of his companions helped him into a combi where they found another man who had been shot in the back and was seriously wounded. Shots were being exchanged between their Mamba and the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging members. While helping the injured man, said Lance-Corporal De Koker, he saw a blue Mercedes car out of the convoy coming to a stop. The driver, a large bearded white man, got out of the car with his hands raised. He said "Don't shoot". He saw the driver walking round the car and going to lie on the ground on the passenger's side. This was obviously the deceased Wolfaardt who was a large bearded man. Lance-Corporal De Koker said he saw one other of the occupants of the car, also a white man lying propped up against the left rear wheel. This was obviously the deceased Uys who was in the position when he was shot. Another white man was lying leaning forward in the front seat clutching his chest. This man later came to be lying next to the car. This was obviously the deceased Fourie. There were a lot of media people present with video and still cameras photographing the scene.

Colonel Marx of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force arrived on the scene but left immediately to call an ambulance. It was then that two Bophuthatswana Police Force policemen in uniform, one a Sergeant, who was not armed and the other armed with a rifle came on the scene. The latter appeared very upset and aggressive. He said that the white men did not deserve to live because they had killed children and other people. Lance-Corporal De Koker said he then heard shots being fired. The Sergeant tried to stop the other policeman who then pointed his rifle at the Sergeant before again turning to the three men. From about a metre away from them he shot each in the head. The Sergeant asked the other policeman what he was trying to do. Lance-Corporal De Koker said he did not hear the reply. He could not remember exactly what happened to the two policemen. Colonel Marx returned to the scene and ordered them to withdraw from it as a white police officer in a white bakkie had arrived there by then. Lance-Corporal De Koker said it would be very difficult for him to identify the policeman who shot the men. He said the crowd had egged on the policeman to shoot. The videos of the incident which the Commission was shown over and over confirmed Lance-Corporal De Koker's testimony. On one of the videos members of the crowd there can be clearly heard saying "Kill them, man; kill them, man". He said that the policeman fired six shots altogether. The men had lain outside their car for 15 to 20 minutes before they were shot.

Lieutenant Dikobe, who corroborated Lance-Corporal De Koker on all material aspects, said the "right-wingers" in the convoy had shot at random at the crowd. The Bophuthatswana Defence Force members shot back to protect both themselves and the crowd of civilians there. Lieutenant Dikobe said he saw the bearded man get out of the blue Mercedes and being ordered to lie down by one of his, Lieutenant Dikobe's, soldiers. The man kept on saying that the man lying next to the car was injured and needed help. Colonel Marx who came on the scene then left to try and get an ambulance. It was then that the policemen, one a Sergeant, dressed in Bophuthatswana Police Force uniforms arrived. The one who was armed with a rifle asked the men "What are you doing here, what do AWB want in Mmabatho?" He then first shot the injured man. The Sergeant tried to stop him but he pointed his rifle at the Sergeant before going up to the other two men and shooting them both at close range, the last one being the bearded man. Lieutenant Dikobe said he could not remember what happened after the shooting but he did not see the policemen again. He would not, he said, be able to identify the policemen. He saw them only once and that was three years ago.

The pathologist who conducted the post-mortem examination on the deceased Fourie and Uys, Dr Herma Rabie, said Fourie had bullet wounds of the head and neck. The first wound had gone through the brain, the second through the spinal cord. Death would have been instantaneous. Uys had also been shot twice. One had gone through his chest, the other had entered at the bridge of the nose, penetrated the head and exited at the back of the neck. Both wounds would have been fatal. Dr Mariette Hurst, the pathologist who performed the post-mortem examination on the bearded deceased, Wolfaardt, said he had died of cranio-cerebral injuries caused by having been shot in the head from behind. He would also have died instantaneously.

Originally the policeman alleged to have shot the men was one Serge Phillemon Nare of the Bophuthatswana Police Force. He was identified as the shooter by Inspector Mokgoko. Inspector Mokgoko was also the only person to identify Sergeant Nare. As a result Sergeant Nare was charged with the murder of the three men. His prosecution was, however, suspend by the Attorney-General pending the investigation of the deaths by Commission and its Report in regard thereto.

Inspector Mokgoko's evidence was that in March 1994 he was a sergeant in the Security Branch of the Bophuthatswana Police Force. On 11 March 1994 he was on duty at a 4-way stop near the TTA. At about 13:00 a crowd of people had congregated near the TTA when a Bophuthatswana Police Force Nyala vehicle came from the Vryburg direction along the Vryburg-Mafikeng road. Someone on the Nyala said "the Boers were appearing from the direction of Vryburg busy shooting at people". At that stage there were military Nyalas facing in the direction of Vryburg. It was then that the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging convoy appeared from the Vryburg direction. The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging members opened fire on the people, the Bophuthatswana Defence and Police Force. The Bophuthatswana Defence and Police Force returned their fire. In the convoy was an old blue Mercedes Benz car. One of the passengers in the front seat was shooting at the people. The car was shot several times and came to a stop at the side of the road near the 4-way stop. The man who had been doing the shooting had been shot and was lying with his head on the dashboard.

After the car had stopped members of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force went to it and took the man out and laid him next to the car. Two other men, one bearded and one not, also emerged from the car and lay on the ground next to the car, the clean shaven man being propped up against the left rear wheel. People started flocking to the vehicle. These included media personnel and Bophuthatswana Defence Force members. Inspector Mokgoko said he told other policemen who were present with him to disarm the men. He then searched them as well as the vehicle. In it they found two pistols, a shotgun and ammunition. Sergeant Kgaswana, one of the policemen with him, handed the arms and ammunition to him. Inspector Mokgoko said he took control of the scene. He spoke to the men on the ground, telling them he was going to take their firearms. He also asked them what they wanted in that area of Mmabatho and where they were from. They said that their officers had sent them to Mmabatho but that they did not know what their duties were. He spoke to both Uys and Wolfaardt. Uys said they came from different places. Wolfaardt said he came from Naboomspruit. A Lieutenant from the Bophuthatswana Defence Force arrived at that stage and told Inspector Mokgoko and the other policemen that they could leave as the Bophuthatswana Defence Force were taking over control at the scene. Inspector Mokgoko said he went to his office in the TTA and locked the arms and ammunition in a safe. He then went back to a small gate leading out of the TTA premises.

At that juncture a police constable in Bophuthatswana Police Force uniform appeared going in the direction of the three white men. He had no firearm with him. Inspector Mokgoko said the constable "threatened to kill those Boers who were lying there on the ground. He said to them that if he feels like it he can do away with them within a second." The policeman was in a very aggressive mood and "if he had had a weapon with him he could have killed those people". Inspector Mokgoko said he then went up to the Constable and took him away to behind the media personnel who were taking pictures, in order to try to calm him down. The Constable said to him "that we are leaving people who have been killing our people, now who are the people who are going to protect our people?". He knew the Constable. He was one Constable Gaobepe.

Inspector Mokgoko said that as he was taking Constable Gaobepe away, another policeman approached from the opposite direction to which they were going. This man, who was wearing a green Bophuthatswana Police Force uniform, was armed with a R4 rifle. He said "these men nearly shot me", referring to the men lying on the ground. Inspector Mokgoko said the policeman went right up to the men. He did not know if he said anything to them but the next moment, said Inspector Mokgoko, he saw the policeman shooting at two of them. The policeman then simply walked away from the scene. He still had his rifle with him. Inspector Mokgoko said that it was not true, as Lance-Corporal De Koker and Lieutenant Dikobe had testified, that anybody had tried to stop him. Nobody had done so. There was a sergeant of the Bophuthatswana Police Force on the scene but he had not tried to stop the policeman nor had the latter pointed his rifle at the sergeant. The sergeant had walked towards the pressmen with his arms raised.

Inspector Mokgoko said that he was shown a picture of the policeman shooting the men which appeared in the issue of the newspaper "Beeld" of 15 March 1994. He identified the policeman as Sergeant Nare. He had known him before the shooting, Sergeant Nare having come to TTA for courses and operational duties, although he did not then know his name. Inspector Mokgoko said he was about nine to ten paces from Sergeant Nare when he was doing the shooting. He later also identified him at an identification parade that was held on 2 November 1994. Inspector Mokgoko said Uys was shot first and then Wolfaardt. He did not see Fourie being shot. He thought Fourie was already dead when he was lying next to the car. Inspector Mokgoko said that neither he nor any of the other policemen had tried to arrest Sergeant Nare because of his aggressiveness and the fact that he was armed while he, Inspector Mokgoko, was not.

Inspector Mokgoko's evidence was in the light of events subsequent to his giving it, clearly inaccurate and incorrect as was his identification of Sergeant Nare as the man who shot the deceased. Inspector Mokgoko's evidence as set out above was that there were two policemen involved at the scene with the men lying on the ground: one being Constable Gaobepe whom he had led away from the scene and the other being Sergeant Nare who had shot the men. He, however, made a sworn affidavit on 15 March 1994. In it he said the following:

"Between the press people was a Bophuthatswana Policeman who was also interrogating these two white men. This policeman said to the two Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging members that it will only take him one second to kill them. I took this Policeman from the scene to try to calm him. This policeman then cocked his weapon and ran to the scene. He shot the two white men who were still alive in front of my eyes. I noticed that the two men were dead. This policeman (suspect) then moved inside the Police Headquarters.

I know this policeman by sight but I do not know his name."

It is quite clear from this statement that Inspector Mokgoko was speaking of only one policeman. At no stage in it did he speak of two.

Inspector Mokgoko said the person who took the statement viz. Colonel du Toit could not have understood the sequence of the events that took place. He said that when he made his statement to Colonel du Toit he had talked about two police officers.

Inspector Mokgoko also made a second sworn statement on 30 November 1994 in which he said the following:

"I do not know who is the sergeant who tried to stop the suspect and I do not know where he was working." (emphasis added)

It will be recalled that Inspector Mokgoko said in his testimony that nobody had tried to stop the suspect. His second statement accordingly also differs from his testimony before the Commission.

Colonel Christiaan du Toit, the station commander at Mafikeng in the South African Police Services who was, during March 1994, attached to the detective branch of the Bophuthatswana Police Force, said he visited the scene of the shooting on 11 March 1994 but by the time he got there most of the people had already left. On 14 March 1994 he received instructions from the Commissioner of the Bophuthatswana Police Force, General Seleke, to investigate the case. He took down Inspector Mokgoko's statement. They spoke English, which Inspector Mokgoko speaks well. They communicated easily. It requires to be recorded that although he started giving his evidence before the Commission in Setswana, Inspector Mokgoko changed to English after only a few questions and was quite at home in English during all the rest of his testimony.

Colonel du Toit said he had faithfully written down what Inspector Mokgoko had said to him. At no time had Inspector Mokgoko spoken of two policemen nor had he mentioned Constable Gaobepe's name to him. He had first heard of the latter during Inspector Mokgoko's evidence before the Commission. Colonel du Toit said the only person who could positively identify Sergeant Nare was Inspector Mokgoko. Inspector Mokgoko had not initially known Sergeant Nare's name. Colonel du Toit said he got that from a police informer. The other policemen who were with Inspector Mokgoko on the scene could not at all identify the person who had shot the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging men. He said that investigating the matter had been a nightmare. Apart from Inspector Mokgoko he had no co-operation from anyone and had even had death threats made against him. He had tried to establish the identity of the police sergeant seen on the scene on the video and still photographs of the incident but had been quite unable to do so.

Inspector Mokgoko's evidence on its own, therefore, was entirely unreliable.

Sergeant Nare at all times had protested his innocence. Asked by Colonel du Toit, who at first regarded him as a witness rather than a suspect, if he would be prepared to make a statement, Sergeant Nare said he would. In that statement, which is dated 14 April 1994, Sergeant Nare said:

"I am a sergeant in the Bophuthatswana Police stationed at Mogwase.

On the 11th of March 1994 between 11:00and 12:00 I was at Police Headquarters, Mafikeng.

Lt. Col Ramatlape came to me and asked me to accompany him and Major Mokhethi to town to look for Major Hosking.

After a while we came back. At the 4 way stopstreet at Police headquarters I saw that a lot of policemen civilians and members of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force were gathered there.

On the right-hand side of the road facing Mafikeng I saw a blue Mercedes-Benz parked on the side of the road.

On the left-hand side of this vehicle I saw three white men dressed in "khaki"clothes lying on the sand. I could see that the one was dead. One was lying against the led rear wheel of the car and the other one was lying on his stomach. The two men who were still alive were talking to the press.

Lt. Col Ramatlape was on the scene with me. After a while I left the scene in He presence of Lt. Col Ramatlape. Major Mokhethi was also present on the scene. I was armed with an R4 rifle.

I left the scene in the presence of Lt. Col. Ramatlape and Major Mokhethi.

When I left the scene the two white men were still alive.

I am prepared to stand on a identification parade to prove my innocence."

An identification parade was held in November l 994, some seven months after the incident. Again, only Inspector Mokgoko identified Sergeant Nare. Apart from one aspect, Sergeant Nare's statement was by and large confirmed by Colonel Ramatlape. Colonel Ramatlape testified that on the morning of 11 March 1994 he and Major Mokhethi had gone from TTA into Mafikeng to look for Captain Hosking. They took Sergeant Nare, who was then a sergeant in the Bophuthatswana Police Force and who was armed with an R4 rifle, with them to act as protection for them. Sergeant Nare was in uniform. They could not find Captain Hosking and had returned to TTA. Neither he nor Major Mokhethi had gone to the scene of the shooting and although the latter said that he saw the blue Mercedes car standing at the side of the road, he, Colonel Ramatlape had not seen the car as he was the driver of the vehicle in which they had travelled and he was concentrating on his driving because of the big crowd of people there. It was "absolutely wrong" that he was with Sergeant Nare at the scene, as Sergeant Nare had said in his statement. This apart, however, Sergeant Nare's version of his participation in events remained consistent.

Before the Commission, Sergeant Nare chose not to give evidence, as, of course, it was his right to do, but volunteered to make an unsworn statement. This is what he said:

"Segoba Philemon Nare states: I am a Sergeant in the South African Police stationed at Mogwase.

My attorney Julian Meltz has advised me that in the light of the fact that I am to be charged for the murder of the three AWB men that I not give evidence at this hearing. I came to this Commission with the intention of clearing my name and providing the Commission with all the detail to prove my innocence. Due to the pending murder charges and based on the legal advise (sic) given I regret I am unable to do so.

On the 11th of March 1994 between 11:00 and 12:00 I was at Police Headquarters at Mafikeng. During such time Lt. Col Ramatlape and Major Mokhethi requested that I accompany them to town to locate Major Hosking and Bezuidenhout. We travelled in the motor vehicle of Lt. Col Ramatlape.

On our return and at the four way stop street at Police Headquarters I saw a gathering of people. I got out of the motor vehicle and walked to the gathering. Lt. Col Ramatlape and Major Mokhethi were at that stage still in the motor vehicle. As I approached the gathering I saw on the right hand side of the road facing Mafikeng a blue Mercedes Benz parked on the side of the road. On the left hand side of this vehicle I saw three white men dressed in "khaki" clothes lying on the ground. I could see that the one white person was dead. The two men who were still alive were talking to the press. There were also certain Bophuthatswana Policemen and Bophuthatswana Defence Force members on the scene. I left the scene and went back to Police Headquarters. When I left the scene the two white men were still alive.

I confirm that I was armed with an R4 rifle and was dressed in the uniform of the Bophuthatswana Police indicating my rank as Sergeant. I confirm that during 1990 I was appointed to the rank of Sergeant and held such rank at the relevant time.

I heard the statement of Mrs Uys and the trauma caused to her and her family. My deepest sympathy is extended to her and her family and to all those who lost loved ones during the events of 11March 1994. I too have been severely traumatised due to the wrong and mistaken identification by one person and have been labelled a cold blooded killer. I am married with a child of six and both my wife and child have suffered greatly as a result hereof. I deny that I killed the AWB members and am grateful of this opportunity given to me by the Commission to present this statement."

Sergeant Nare's reference to the statement of Mrs Uys is to a statement made to the Commission by Mrs Amelia Sandra Uys, the widow of the deceased Uys, as to the trauma she and her children had suffered as a result of the shooting of her husband.

It must further be recorded that although the leader of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, Mr Eugene Terre'Blanche and three of its senior members made unsworn statements to the Commission, there was no evidence given under oath which could be tested by appropriate questioning by any member of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging as to this incident and the Commission therefore had before it only the evidence of Lance-Corporal De Koker and Lieutenant Dikobe, both of whom the Commission finds to be reliable witnesses.

It is clear to the Commission that the deceased Uys, Wolfaardt and Fourie were occupants in the blue Mercedes car when it was part of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging convoy departing from Bophuthatswana via the Vryburg-Mafikeng road on 11 March 1994. It is also clear that the convoy was involved in an exchange of fire with members of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force near the railway bridge at the entrance to Mafikeng. From the evidence of the shooting of civilians prior to the convoy's reaching that spot the Commission finds that it is probable that those on the vehicles in the convoy had started the shooting, no doubt provoked by the stones thrown at them, prior to the Bophuthatswana Defence Force personnel's retaliation in defence of themselves and the civilians there present. It also finds that the passenger in the front seat of the car who, because Wolfaardt was the driver and Uys was in the rear seat (as shown on the videos), was Fourie, fired with a firearm from the car during the skirmish, in which the car was repeatedly hit by fire from the Bophuthatswana Defence Force. Colonel du Toit testified that four spent shotgun cartridges were found inside the blue Mercedes car showing that shots had been fired from within the car. It finds further that Fourie was hit by such gunfire and was probably dead by the time the car had come to a stop or shortly thereafter.

In view of the fact that it cannot be said with certainty that the Bophuthatswana Defence Force had started the firing but that the contrary would seem to be the probability viz. that the Bophuthatswana Defence Force fired in defence of themselves and the civilian crowd there present and that, in any event, it cannot be determined who fired the fatal shot or shots, the Commission is unable to find that Fourie's death was brought about by any act or omission prima facie involving or amounting to an offence on the part of any person (or persons).

In the case of Uys and Wolfaardt it is undisputed that they were both shot in the head with a R4 rifle by a member of the former Bophuthatswana Police Force while lying defenceless next to the Mercedes car. Up to the sitting of the Commission their assailant had been identified as Sergeant Nare. He was, however, identified only by Inspector Mokgoko, whose evidence is completely unreliable and his identification of Sergeant Care, in the light of what follows, inaccurate and incorrect.

Pursuant to the mentioning by Inspector Mokgoko in his evidence of Constable Gaobepe, the Investigating Team, led by Captain van Gent, interviewed the latter. Apart from contesting the version of events as testified to by Inspector Mokgoko, Constable Gaobepe was able to direct the Investigating Team to the sergeant seen in the picture in the "Beeld" newspaper who, in turn, directed them to Constable Menyatsoe. They interviewed the latter at Thaba'Nchu where he is stationed. The following day he contacted Lawyers for Human Rights in Mmabatho seeking legal advice and assistance and on 6 May 1997, assisted by Advocate T Bokaba, instructed by Mr Ramphele of Lawyers for Human Rights, Constable Menyatsoe appeared before the Commission and made the following sworn statement:

"I, Bernstein Ontlametse Menyatsoe state the following:

1. I am a police officer in the South African Police Service (SAPS), holding the rank of Constable since 1991.

2. In order to assist the Commission in its objectives as outlined in the terms of reference, I wish to set out the background, circumstances and the events that occurred during the uprising in the Former Bophuthatswana and more specifically, my role during that period.

3. During that period my duties involved the guarding of General Seleke's residence.

4 On the 10th March 1994 at about 22h00 I was sleeping at my place, when my neighbour who was in the Bop Defence Force came to my place. He informed me about the presence of the armed AWB members at the Bophuthatswana Air Force Base. He said they had virtually taken over from the regular Bophuthatswana army. He informed me that the mere presence of the AWB was not acceptable to the black Bop Defence Force members.

5. The following morning at about 8h00 I reported for duty at the Police Headquarters (TTA). When I arrived at work I was issued with an R4 rifle. We were informed not to leave the camp. One of the senior officials instructed us to guard the TTA as it could be attacked by the right-wingers.

6. Around midday I went to the kitchen to have my lunch. As I was having lunch with colleagues I heard gun shots fired from outside the building. The shooting was continuous and I became worried about my safety. We then decided to go outside to see what was happening.

7. As we were leaving the kitchen the shooting was continuing. I saw a bakkie full of white khaki-clad men driving pass the TTA gate. I heard a shot coming from the direction of the bakkie and a bullet struck next to my boot.

8. I dived to the ground and rolled towards the parameter wall. When I reached the wall I stayed for sometime. I then heard people who were trying to force open the gates. They managed to open these gates. They approached me demanding protection failing which I surrender my R4 rifle to them so that they should protect themselves.

9. I refused to hand over the rifle as it is against the rules of the police force. I chose to protect them from this attack myself in order to avert further disorder and chaos. I consider giving arms to members of the public and irreprehensible (sic).

10. I ended up on the other side of the road from TTA. I heard gunshots from a blue Mercedes Benz that was travelling from Vryburg towards Mafikeng. When the Mercedes Benz drove pass (sic) where I was lying the people in the Mercedes started directing shots at me. I heard a man screaming that he had been shot. He was bleeding from the knee.

11. I took an aim at the Mercedes Benz and fired several shots. The Mercedes Benz stopped a distance away. As I was moving towards the Mercedes I saw a woman lying on the ground bleeding from the stomach.

12. I approached the occupants of the Mercedes and fired shots at them. I immediately left the scene. I went back to TTA and met one white officer who said I had done a good job.

13. During this period what I perceived to be a state of war was prevailing. I was enraged by the attempts on my life and the indiscriminate shooting of the defenceless and innocent members of the public. It appeared to me that the only crime committed by members of the public was to seek to make their own decision regarding participation in the forthcoming elections. I felt obliged, as a policeman, to stop the carnage that appeared to be continuing with impunity. The prevailing circumstances were of such a pressing nature that I considered it my duty to do everything in my power to ensure complete stop to the killings.

14. My actions on the 11th of March 1994 should not just be seen through the lens of the camera that focussed on the dramatic moment showing a black policeman firing at three khaki-clad swastika bearing white men. We should bear in mind that during this period more than 40 people had died and many were injured.

15. I have been condemned as a murderer by some, whilst many others have regarded me as a hero. I see myself as an ordinary policeman who obliged when duty called to defend human life, dignity and prevent anarchy."

Advocate Bokaba, in elaboration of paragraph 13 of Constable Menyatsoe's statement told the Commission that it was his client's instructions that he admitted that:-

(i) he shot the three white members of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging who were lying outside the Mercedes Benz motor car;

(ii) it was he and not Sergeant Nare who shot the men; and

(iii) he was responsible for killing the three men.

Advocate Bokaba informed the Commission that Constable Menyatsoe intended applying to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for amnesty for his part in the killing of the three deceased.

The Commission therefore finds that the identification of Sergeant Nare as the person who shot the three deceased is incorrect and that he is innocent of any offence regarding them. The prosecution of him should accordingly be withdrawn forthwith.

In the cases of Case No 6, Nicolaas Johannes Fourier Case No 55, Jacob Stephanus Uys and Case No 59, Alwyn Wolfaardt the Commission therefore finds that

7.4.1 In the CASE NO 6, NICOLAAS JOHANNES FOURIE

(a) the identity of the deceased is NICOLAAS JOHANNES FOURIE an adult, male, aged 40 years.
(b) the circumstances of the death is that the deceased was probably killed when he was a passenger in a car which was part of a convoy of Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging vehicles that was involved in a skirmish with members of the Bophuthatswana Defence and Police Force on 11 March 1994.
(c) the cause of the death was bullet wounds of the head and neck involving the brain and spinal cord.
(d) as the deceased was probably shot and killed during the skirmish in which he had fired at people and had his shots returned, the Commission is of the view that there was no act prima facie involving or amounting to an offence the part of any person.

7.4.2 In the CASE NO 55, JACOB STEPHANUS UYS

(a) the identity of the deceased is JACOB STEPHANUS UYS an adult, male, aged 33 years (identity number 6004175154083).
(b) the circumstances of his death are that he was shot and killed by Constable Ontlametse Bernstein Menyatsoe on 1 1 March 1994 while lying wounded next to a Mercedes Benz car which had been involved in a skirmish with members of the Bophuthatswana Defence and Police Force and in which the deceased had been a passenger.
(c) the cause of the death was bullet wounds to the chest and the head.
(d) the death was brought about by an act prima facie amounting to an offence on the part of Constable Ontlametse Bernstein Menyatsoe.

7.4.3 In the CASE NO 59, ALWYN WOLFAARDT

(a) the identity of the deceased is ALWYN WOLFAARDT an adult, male, aged 43 years (identity number 49121 15177000).
(b) the circumstances of his death are that he was shot and killed by Constable Ontlametse Bernstein Menyatsoe on 11 March 1994 while lying wounded next to a Mercedes Benz car which had been involved in a skirmish with members of the Bophuthatswana Defence and Police Force and in which the deceased had been a passenger.
(c) the cause of death was cranio-cerebral injuries caused by having been shot in the head.
(d) the death was brought about by an act prima facie amounting to an offence on the part of Constable Ontlametse Bernstein Menyatsoe.

As set out in the section of the Report on the background to the events of 11 March 1994 and the summary of the major events of that day, members of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging and of the Afrikaner Volksfront entered Mmabatho during the night of Thursday, 10 March 1994 and the early hours of the morning of 1 1 March 1994. The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging left Mafikeng unescorted at between about noon and 13:00 on 1 1 March 1994 while a convoy of Afrikaner Volksfront members was escorted by a convoy of the South African Defence Force from the Air Force Base to the Bophuthatswana boundary late on the afternoon of 11 March 1994. Part of this convoy of Afrikaner Volksfront members was shot at in an ambush in Voortrekker Road and three of the members were wounded in the skirmish. One of those was the deceased FRANCOIS WILLEM JANSEN VAN RENSBURG, an adult, male, aged 36 years (identity number 5709125096082), who died later that evening from his wounds. How he met his death appears from the evidence of Major Christiaan Jacobus Serfontein, Dr J J van der Merwe and Sister (Captain) A C M Klopper.

Major Serfontein of the South African Defence Force testified that on 10 March 1994 he was a member of one of a number of South African Defence Force units stationed at Klippan in the then Western Transvaal. Klippan was situated in one of those areas which had been declared an unrest area.

On 10 March 1994 it became known that there was Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging activity in the area and that members of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging were converging on Mmabatho. It also became known that Afrikaner Volksfront members were proceeding to Mmabatho ostensible to stabilise the situation there. On the morning of 11 March 1994, his unit, consisting of about 100 men, moved into Mafikeng to the South African Embassy. They passed Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging bakkies on the way. Some of these tried to force their way in between the South African Defence Force convoy vehicles, others just stood parked alongside the road. At about 16:00 of that day his unit received instructions to occupy the Bophuthatswana Defence Force Headquarters and also the Air Force Base and to escort the right-wingers from the Air Force Base and out of Mafikeng. At the Air Force Base he met Colonel Burger of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force and one Lennert Venendal of the Afrikaner Volksbront. Other Afrikaner Volksfront leaders such as General Constand Viljoen and Colonel Jan Breytenbach were also present. There were no Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging leaders there. There was a large group of men clad in khaki, said Major Serfontein, whom his unit would assist in escorting out of Bophuthatswana. He told them that he would order four Caspirs to lead the way with three more Caspirs to bring up the rear. The Afrikaner Volksfront vehicles, which numbered about 80 bakkies, would be in between. The Afrikaner Volksfront members were armed with R1 and R4 rifles. He told them that he would accept no responsibility for any of their activities. The convoy which was, he thought, the last to leave the Base, travelled without incident from the Air Force Base to the Mmabatho Sun Hotel and then turned right into Voortrekker Road.

Off to the right hand or western side of Voortrekker Road there was at that time a disused Air Force Base with an old runway and an old hanger. These were separated from Voortrekker Road by a low wall, about one metre high. As the convoy moved along Voortrekker Road and past this wall, the convoy came under fire from behind the wall. People in the convoy jumped from their bakkies and sought shelter on the eastern side of the road. Major Serfontein said he saw that tracer bullets were being fired at the right wingers. It was not automatic fire, rather the firing came from a number of weapons. From the fact that tracer bullets were used, which were not available to the civilian population, he concluded that the firing came from military personnel. The right-wingers returned the fire, which then stopped. They then returned to their vehicles. The incident lasted about two minutes. Major Serfontein said that three of the Afrikaner Volksfront members were wounded, one through the hip, one through his shoulder blades and the deceased was shot through his jaw. The others were not seriously wounded, the deceased was. He was bleeding badly. He was transported to Klippan where there was a medical unit. He was still conscious at that stage but could not speak or walk by himself. Referred to a statement that the deceased had walked unaided to the Caspir, Major Serfontein said that it was inaccurate. He could not have done so.

Dr van der Merwe said that on 11 March 1994 he was a medical officer with the rank of Captain in the South African Defence Force at Klippan. There was a field medical unit there. That evening the deceased was brought in with a gunshot wound that had entered his jaw in front of the right ear and exited under the jaw on the left hand side. He was placed in the sick bay. The deceased could breath unaided but could not communicate or speak. He did not move or react to the doctors and Dr van der Merwe made the assumption that he was unconscious. He and a senior medical officer, Dr D P Dijkstra, got the bleeding under control. However, the deceased required surgical treatment which it was not possible to carry out at Klippan. There was only what could be described as a casualty station there. There was no operating theatre and no blood supplies. It was accordingly necessary to transport him by helicopter to 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria. He was carried on a stretcher from the sick bay to the helicopter. Dr van der Merwe said that before the deceased was loaded into the helicopter, he asked the deceased if he could hear him (Dr van der Merwe) and if he was comfortable. The deceased nodded but he could not speak. He could certainly not walk.

Dr Dijkstra and Sister Klopper also boarded the helicopter to accompany the deceased to hospital. While the helicopter's motors were increasing speed prior to take off, the vibration in the helicopter increased. Before the helicopter took off, the deceased began bleeding badly again from the wound in his neck. Dr Dijkstra asked the pilot not to take off and the deceased was then carried once more on a stretcher from the helicopter to the sick bay. Blood was sucked from his throat and other resuscitative measures applied. No fewer than six doctors were involved in treating the deceased. The deceased was comatose. He was placed on a ventilator. The wound and the bleeding were brought under control. However, later during the night the deceased suddenly developed a cardiac arrest and despite all attempts at resuscitation by the six doctors, including heart massage, he died at about 00:30 on 12 March 1994. Sister Klopper, then a Captain in the South African Defence Force, and Dr Dijkstra corroborated Dr van der Merwe's testimony in all respects.

In the document Vuur en Verraad the author, Arthur Kemp, refers to "the mysterious death" of the deceased. He says:

"Die Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag het hom met die Caspir na die Klippan-Hospitaal geneem. Die dokter het vdkt Francois (the deceased) gestabiliseer om met 'n helikopter na die HF Verwoerd Hospitaal of 1 Militere Hospitaal geneem te word.

Vdkt Francois het geen ander hulp aanvaar nie. Hy het oral rondgestap en sy duim vir sy makkers gewys om aan te dui dat hy reg is. Toe hy in die helikopter inklim, het hulle aan horn gese dat hulle sy vrou sal laat weet en hy het weer sy duim gewys. Hulle het opgestyg met hom en 'n rukkie later met sy lyk teruggekom."

It is clear in the view of the Commission that this account of what happened is, in the light of all the evidence which is not contradicted in any way, completely inaccurate. The deceased was totally unable to walk or to lift his thumb to anyone. Moreover, the helicopter never took off nor did the deceased die while in it. He died while undergoing treatment in the field hospital at Klippan.

The Commission finds that the deceased died as a result of a gunshot wound through the jaw, the cause of death being given by Dr Mariette Hurst, who performed the post-mortem examination as "Gunshot wound of oral cavity and pharynx, aspiration of blood", which wound was sustained when a convoy in which the deceased was travelling was ambushed and fired on, probably by mutinying members of the Bophuthatswana Police or Defence Force. The Commission is unable to establish from which of these forces the members came or who such members were or who fired the shot that fatally wounded the deceased. The Commission therefore finds that

(a) the identity of the deceased is FRANCOIS WILLEM JANSEN VAN RENSBURG an adult, male, aged 36 years (identity number 5709125096082).
(b) the circumstances of the death are that the deceased was shot on 11 March 1994 by an unidentified member or members of the Bophuthatswana Police or Defence Force while a passenger in a convoy of Afrikaner VolksFront vehicles on their way out of Bophuthatswana.
(c) the cause of the death is a "gunshot wound of the oral cavity and pharynx with aspiration of blood".
(d) the death was brought about by an act prima facie involving amounting to an offence on the part of an unknown member members of the Bophuthatswana Defence or Police Force.

The deceased in this case appears to have been a looter who was shot at a near Mega City by a member of the Bophuthatswana Police Force.

The mother of this girl, who was aged 15 years when she died, Lydia Mosito, testified that the deceased and a nephew of hers, Rramogomotsi John Mosito, asked her permission to go to Mega City on 10 March 1994 She refused. However, they went anyway. Later Rrarnogomotsi returned to say that everything at Mega City was topsy-turvy. There were man' people there and shots were being fired. He did not say who was doing the shooting. The deceased did not return with him. She found the body of the deceased the following day at the Victoria Hospital Mortuary. The deceased had died of a bullet wound.

The post-mortem examination revealed that the deceased had been shot from the front and the side. Ravula said the fatal wound could have been caused by one bullet Rramogomotsi Mosito, a 19 year old standard 9 scholar, said that on 10 March 1994 he and his cousin, the deceased, left his aunt's house at about 18:00 to go to Mega City where, so they had been told, goods could be taken free. They found a crowd of people looting the shops there and they too took some goods. Part of the building was on fire and there was smoke throughout that part of the building where they were. He suggested to the deceased that they should go home. They were, however, stopped by police who told them to place the goods they had taken on the floor in the passage near the Standard Bank in Mega City. The police were in uniform and some were wearing teargas masks. These were members of the Bophuthatswana Police.

The police escorted them to the exit near CNA. Some of the police were shooting at the looters. Rramogomotsi said he and the deceased started running away. She ran one way and he another. He called to her but got no reply. He then ran home where his mother said he should go back to Mega City to look for the deceased. As he got near to it, however, he became nervous as the Bophuthatswana Police, whom he identified by their uniforms, were firing shots. Some were firing teargas and others were firing bullets at those who were running away. He did not find the deceased. He could not say who had shot the deceased.

The Commission finds in this case that the deceased died from a bullet wound and that she was probably shot in the vicinity of Mega City by a member of the Bophuthatswana Police Force whose identity cannot, however, be established. The Commission therefore finds that

(a) the identity of the deceased is LESEGO ROSINAH KHUDUGE, a female, aged 15 years.
(b) the circumstances of the death are that the deceased was shot on 10 March 1994 probably at Mega City by an unidentified member of the Bophuthatswana Police Force.
(c) the cause of the death was a bullet wound.
(d) the death was brought about by an act prima facie involving or amounting to an offence on the part of an unidentified member of The Bophuthatswana Police Force.

This case originally appeared to be clear and uncomplicated. It seemed the deceased, a young woman, aged 22 years, of Thutlwane Stat, had been shot near the garage known as Uncle Barneys by a member of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging from a convoy of vehicles travelling along the Vryburg-Mafikeng road. This was because of the evidence of one Jacob Bankies who said he had identified her body where it lay next to the said road. He said he knew the deceased well. That evidence later, however appeared to be unreliable in that the body of the deceased was not found where Bankies said that the deceased had fallen but in front of a furniture store in the heart of Mafikeng some 3 km away from where Bankies said he had found her.

Bankies stated that on 10 March 1994 at about 16:00 he was going homewards from Mafikeng along the Mafikeng-Vryburg road when he heard the sound of gunshots and saw a convoy of motor cars, from which the shots seemed to be coming, travelling from Mafikeng in his direction. He was then crossing the bridge over the railway line. He ran in the direction of the junction of the Vryburg Road and the Lucas Mangope Highway. When he got near that junction the convoy overtook him. There were about five motor cars in which white men in khaki clothing were travelling. These men were shooting at random and indiscriminately at people along the roadside. He hid behind some bushes to avoid being shot. When the convoy had passed him, it turned into Lucas Mangope Highway and travelled in the direction of Mega City. He continued to hear shots being fired from the cars. He then saw two women lying near where he was at the roadside about 2 metre from the tarred portion. He went to look at them and saw that both were dead. He did not know the identity of one of them but, as stated, he knew the other. She was the deceased, Wilhemina Kgwadinyane. There was a bullet wound in the back of her head. Her face was covered in blood. It was quite clear, said Bankies, that she had been shot by one of the persons in the convoy.

Those persons were the only ones doing any shooting at the time. Although he did not see the two women before they were shot, from the position where he found them after they were shot, they must have been walking close to the tarred surface of the roadway and a very short distance from the convoy which was travelling along the tarred surface. It was then still broad daylight on a clear day, the sun having not yet gone down. The two women were still lying dead where they had fallen when he ran away to seek refuge at a friend's house. He saw, however, two ambulances picking up the bodies and taking them in the direction of the Bophelong Hospital. The mother of the deceased, Ruth Moshoete, identified the body of her daughter at the mortuary there the next day i.e on Friday, 11 March 1994. Neither Bankies nor the mother were, however, sure of the dates. The mother said she saw a gunshot wound at the back of her daughter's head. Her daughter's forehead had been shot away completely.

A photograph of the deceased taken at the post-mortem examination shows that the deceased's forehead was indeed completely shot away. The pathologist who performed the examination, Dr William Been, said the with a wound of that sort, death would have been instantaneous. He thought that having regard to the damage to the deceased's forehead and he brain, the weapon used was probably a shotgun.

So far so good then until a photograph of a body lying in front of a shop is Mafikeng was extracted from a video of bodies seen in the streets of Mafikeng during the period in question. The photograph was blown up and enlarged.

It shows a body of a woman dressed in a white skirt with a black top, which is either a blouse or a type of jersey known as a "skipper", and wearing a pair of black shoes lying on the pavement with a very large stream of blood running from her forehead. This body was also seen by Brigadier McDuling and Brigadier Wessels of the South African Police who testified before the Commission. They both said it was lying on the pavement in front of; furniture store in central Mafikeng.

The picture of this body was shown to a sister of the deceased, Gloria Kgwadinyane, who immediately identified it as that of her sister, The deceased, from the clothing the deceased had worn on the day she was killed and from the woman's build.

The large stream of blood emanating from He head of the deceased depicted in the picture is consistent with the massive head wound suffered by the deceased.

The Commission accordingly finds that it cannot rely on the evidence of Bankies as to how the deceased met her death. The Commission therefore finds that

(a) the identity of the deceased is WILHELMINA NNUNU KGWADINYANE, an adult, female, aged 22 years.
(b) the circumstances of the death are that she was shot by an unknown person in Central Mafikeng on 11 March 1994.
(c) the cause of the death is a "massive head injury caused by a bullet wound".
(d) the death was brought about by an act prima facie involving or amounting to an offence by an unknown person.

The deceased in this case was obviously shot by members of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging. A 32-year old woman of Tlhabologo, she died of a gunshot wound in the chest on 11 March 1994.

The circumstances of her death were described by two eyewitnesses, Mrs Constance Kutoane and Ms Jane Moloi. Mrs Kutoane testified that at about 13:00 on 11 March 1994 she and the deceased were walking towards Mmabatho from Mafikeng. Shortly after passing the TTA offices a police vehicle drove past and via a loudspeaker said "People run into your houses because the 'Boere of Terre'Blanche' are coming along from Mmabatho and are shooting". She and the deceased and the others who were there thereupon ran into an adjacent village. The vehicles in which she saw white men dressed in khaki shorts and shirts travelling, some of the men with balaclavas over their faces, also turned into the streets of the village. She and the deceased and others tried to get into a large house but the inhabitants had locked their doors. They then took refuge in a mud house next door to the large house. She then heard shots being fired.

When the shooting ceased the deceased said "I want to see the boys of Terre'Blanche'. The deceased went to the door of the house and peeped out. She said "There they are". The deceased then stood just outside the door. Mrs Kutoane said she too emerged from the house and stood behind the deceased. The were looking in the direction of the tarred road from Vryburg to Mafikeng. At that stage the Bophuthatswana Police, in what Mrs Kutoane described as "Hippos", were engaged in a pitched gun battle with the whites. The latter were firing at the police, who in turn were returning the fire of the whites. While watching this shooting, Mrs Kutoane said she heard the deceased cry out and then fall to the ground. A shot had been fired from behind them which had missed her but had struck the deceased in the left side of her back. This shot had apparently come from the direction of a road running behind the house next to which they were standing. Mrs Kutoane said that when the deceased cried out she, Mrs Kutoane, looked around and saw the barrel of a rifle protruding from the rear window of a vehicle the she said "whizzed past"on the road. Later some young men who were also at the scene told her that the shot had come from a silver coloured Mercedes-Benz motor car.

Mrs Kutoane said she rendered assistance to the deceased and was able to get a passing motorist to take the deceased to hospital. The deceased died on the way there. At a post-mortem examination the cause of death was determined as "shock and haemorrhage due to laceration of left lung due to firearm injury". Dr Ravula who did the examination said the deceased had been shot from the back. It was one bullet wound only.

Mrs Kutoane said that the only shooting in the village had come from the vehicles in which the white men were travelling. The police had not entered the village. The police had engaged the whites in battle further down the road towards Mafikeng. They could not have fired the shot that killed the deceased. They appeared to be trying to stop the whites from proceeding further along the road and from entering Mafikeng. She said she saw no soldiers or members of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force or any military vehicles there. Only the police, she said, were engaged in the gun battle with the whites. She later picked up a bullet on the floor which she kept for a while but had since lost. Ms Maloi's evidence was corroborative of Mrs Kutoane's testimony in all material respects.

The Commission therefore finds that

(a) the identity of the deceased is MATSHEDISA SYLVIA LEINANA, an adult, female, aged 32 years (identity number 6201105100604).
(b) the circumstances of the death are that the deceased died of a gunshot wound inflicted on 11 March 1994 by an Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging member whose identity cannot be established.
(c) the cause of the death is "shock and haemorrhage due to laceration of left lung due to firearm injury".
(d) the death was brought about by an act prima facie involving amounting to an offence on the part of an unidentified Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging member.